University of Massachusetts Amherst

Search Google Appliance

Links

Wecker '12 Captures Presidential Politics First-Hand

If you are one of the hundreds of UMass students who attempted to get tickets to this year’s Scott Brown/Elizabeth Warren Senate Debate in Springfield, you know first-hand how fast tickets sell out, and how in-demand seats are for such political events. 

Now imagine you were competing for a seat with the entire US population at one of the presidential debates. The odds of snagging a ticket seem infinitely less likely, don’t they?

However, Aaron Wecker ’12 (Political Science) was able to do just that. And for him, it is all a part of networking.

Wecker received his presidential debate ticket as part of a press-pass made available through his summer 2012 job at the Boca Raton Tribune. Although Wecker’s summer job officially ended when he returned to Amherst for the fall semester, the paper wanted to continue its relationship with him and was willing to send him to the debate.

“Since the Tribune was a local paper,” Wecker says, “they wanted me to cover how the debate affected the community.” Accordingly, he flew to Florida in time for the debate and covered it as the paper’s photojournalist.  I was interested in capturing the reactions of local community members as they listened to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s responses and considered who they wanted to vote for, he says.

Aside from witnessing history in the debate, “the best part was seeing the workings of our media and political system,” says Wecker. He was able to experience the political rhetoric of the spin room while also capturing the party-like atmosphere created by many of the attendees and the host-organization.  “I found the contrast between the spin room, where all the media and politicians were, and right outside the wire where the students of Lynn University were partying, drinking, and listening to music fascinating,” he says.

Overall, the experience emphasized his desire to remain connected to politics after graduation. Although he is not sure if his career path will focus on journalism, he knows that he wants to find a way to connect politics and having an impact on the world.  “I want to keep people informed, and maybe help them understand better what is happening in the world and why,” he says.   “I’m grateful that the Tribune gave me an opportunity to experience presidential politics like this.”

News Type: 

  • Student News